My Sister's Keeper
by MzMocha
Summary: A challenge from Soap Fan Fiction: make two characters siblings. As usual, a short story took on a life of its own and changes the life of all involved. This story starts just after Georgie's death. Features Alexis, Sam, Mac, Maxie and...
1. Chapter 1

This originally started off as an idea from challenge nine, take two characters and make them siblings... but as usual, what was supposed to be a one shot took on a life of its own....

**CHAPTER ONE**

"This is crazy." Sam said to the woman she'd thought was her mother. "Even with what you've found out, it's all there in black and white but I still feel like this is some crazy nightmare, and I still keep hoping I'll wake up. Even with the proof in front of me in black and white," and here she shook the manila envelope she was clutching in both hands, "... I still can't believe it."

They were sitting in Alexis' car, the both of them trying to get up the nerve to get out, walk up to the house before them and knock on the door.

Samantha McCall didn't know if she could do it. She didn't know if she could willingly take the steps that would make her world spin out of her control - again. She stared out of the car window, up at the brownstone's windows where the lights glowing from within told her that somebody was home, but not being sure of her welcome, she hesitated.

"I can't believe it either, sweetheart." Alexis was saying. "But it doesn't matter...because I'm not going anywhere… not if you don't want me to."

"Of course I don't want you to go anywhere. I don't think I could do this if you weren't here with me." Sam turned to look at Alexis, only to see her own concern and apprehension reflected back at her, no matter how hard Alexis tried to hide it.

Once upon a time Sam knew that she wouldn't have noticed it; once upon a time, Samantha McCall would have only been concerned with what this news flash meant to her and how it would affect her life. And if she could profit from it. And nothing else would have mattered as much as that. But in the here and now, after a long, long time, Samantha McCall had turned a corner in her life. She could feel it, from somewhere deep inside of her, that Alexis Davis was worried that she'd lose her. Somewhere, somehow, without knowing exactly when it had happened, Samantha McCall had grown up.

Inwardly though, a part of her shrugged at that thought... Sam guessed that almost getting killed by a crazed vengeful serial killer will open up your eyes to a lot of things.

But the fact that Alexis was worried… not relieved… but still wanted to be there for her, was here for her, well, that was a miracle in itself. That after what they'd discovered, she had decided to still stand by her side...well, Sam still marveled at that, along with the crazy karma that had brought her here.

"You're sure about this?" Sam said nervously.

Alexis reached out and touched the large manila envelope clutched in Sam's hands. "We both read the results - and they were undeniable."

"I know." Sam said for what must have been the hundredth time, "I just can't believe it."

"Neither can I." Alexis said. She felt more than a little bit sad. With all of Sam's faults - and Alexis knew that they were legion - Alexis had still tried her best to be a mother to a grown woman who she knew who's main fault was that she was looking for the unconditional love that every little girl looks for. And when she doesn't get it, Alexis knew, she keeps looking for the rest of her life until she does. Sometimes with disastrous results.

Alexis knew that, because Alexis had lived it. Maybe not with the extremes that Sam had reached, but there was an alikeness that was there nevertheless. They may not share DNA, but there was something that bound them together in spite of everything. And that was the little girl inside them, still looking for that unconditional love. Alexis had found it in her girls. And she had tried to share that with Sam.

Given Sam's background and history - which was all too known to too many people in Port Charles - no one would believe it, but Alexis had seen a lot of herself in Sam - especially the truth about that little statement; although no one would ever believe that one if she ever tried to explain it. Probably not even Samantha herself, she thought with a little smile. Maybe one day she would; Alexis hoped she would be there for it. "I'm not going anywhere Sam. Not ever."

Sam turned to her, and Alexis saw the question in her eyes, even while Sam bit back the words that had sprang to her lips.

It was ridiculous, Sam told herself - she was not a little girl - she had never been a little girl - and she wasn't going to start acting like one now.

"Not ever." Alexis repeated. She smiled and answered her unspoken question. "I promise."

Sam felt the sting of tears in her eyes and blinked, surprised at her reaction. Considering at one time how much she'd sworn she hated this woman, Sam was surprised at herself to find out how much Alexis really did care...no, loved her. Alexis had tried so hard to be a mother to her... Sam hadn't seen that until it was almost too late.

And now they both knew that she wasn't.

**I promise. **

Even though the family connection they thought they'd shared had in reality never existed, Alexis meant it - she wasn't going to leave her, Alexis hadn't walked away and had made it clear that she wasn't going to stop loving her. So those two little words meant so much to Sam; she would have never thought they would mean so very, very much. But until Alexis had spoken them, she had no idea that those words would mattered at all.

But they did; so when Alexis smiled at her again, the smile, along with the look in her eyes gave Sam the courage to face whatever was going to happen when she dropped this bombshell into these peoples' lives. Sam was surprised that for once, she actually cared. She guessed that growing up will do that to a person. It makes them care.

"They're expecting us. "So, let's do this." Alexis opened her car door and got out.

"They may be expecting us, but they're not expecting this." Sam got out of the car and came around to the side where Alexis stood waiting. "But you're right, there's no point in putting this off." Her eyes went up to the brownstone before them and they were troubled. Sam had faced a lot of scarier things in her life, but all of a sudden, the cold she felt had nothing to do with the weather. "It's not that I'm expecting a welcome wagon or anything…"

Alexis reached out and squeezed her hand. "Stop looking for the worst."

"I can't help it; my whole life, I keep getting the worst. Every time I think I see a light at the end of the tunnel, it turns out to be the headlights of a train crashing into my life and destroying it." Life had taught her that. And in spite of everything, no matter what she tried to believe, old habits died hard.

"Hey, you got me, and what am I, chopped liver?" Alexis knew that it was a weak joke, but she was determined to try and help Sam any way she could to get through this. And if that meant setting herself up to tell bad jokes, well then, so be it.

Sam had to smile in spite of all the emotions jangling through her insides. Doubt, fears, indecisions... they faded away for a moment. "You know what I mean. I spent my whole life not being wanted…I… I don't know if I can go through that again. It hurts too much, and you know what happens when I get hurt. It isn't pretty for anyone involved." She looked at Alexis for a moment before her eyes dropped. "You know that firsthand."

"I know."

They both did.

"I don't want to do that anymore. I don't want to be that person anymore. But I don't know if I can change."

When Sam was hurt, she lashed out unthinkingly at the closest thing to her. And Alexis had been the recipient of one of her self-destructive rages and the consequences of it had cost Alexis her marriage. Not that it had been built on the most solid of foundations, but Sam and Ric, two wounded souls, had looked for the wrong kind of comfort in all the wrong places - and she'd had the misfortune to have seen it happen. That was a wound that Alexis would probably never ever really heal, but Alexis, a Gatekeeper always and forever, could put her own pain aside for another's sake.

"We can't change what happened, Sam… but we can try and move forward." Alexis told her. "That's what's happening here. We're moving forward. You're moving forward, claiming your life. And you can choose what you're going to do with it."

"I hope so." Sam said, her voice sounding tiny in her ears.

"Have a little faith in yourself." Alexis told her. "I do."

"I know you do." Sam paused and took a deep breath. "I don't know why, but you really do. And no matter how tonight turns out, I just want to thank you for being there for me. Not just for this, but for everything. With the way I treated you when I first discovered that you were my mother, I know a lot of people would have turned their backs on me a long time ago. Even now, with knowing what you know, after everything I've done, you're still here..." her voice still held more than a trace of amazement at that fact.

"And I always will be." Alexis said. She watched as Sam took another deep breath and tossed her hair back.

"I get that. After all this time, I finally get that." Sam's chin lifted slightly and a part of her old bravado came back. "Let's do this."

Together they walked up the stairs to the front door. Alexis moved to knock, but Sam stopped her. "No, from here on out, this is all on me. I'm glad you're here, I really am, Alexis. But this is something I am going to have to do myself."

"However you want to play this is fine with me. I'm here for you - however you need me."

"Just the fact that you're here is enough." Sam told her truthfully. She took a long look at the mourning wreath of white roses that hung on the door, knowing why they were there and it made her hesitate one lat time. For a moment, she doubted herself once more, thinking about the timing of her news. But there was something inside of her that made this news something she couldn't hold inside a moment longer. In the face of loss after loss after loss, this was something that couldn't wait. She knew that there would never be a good time. So now was as good as time as any to do what she had to do.

She took a deep breath and knocked on the door. As footsteps approached, Alexis reached out her hand. Sam's own hand met her halfway.


	2. Chapter 2

**CHAPTER TWO**

The door opened. "Hello, Alexis, Sam." Mac Scorpio's eyes went from her to Sam, curiosity bright in his eyes despite the weariness underlying it. "... both of you - come in."

"Thanks for seeing us on such short notice." Alexis's voice was muted as she and Sam entered. For her part, Sam just nodded in greeting, suddenly finding it hard to talk past the sudden tightness in her throat.

"Well, I could tell from talking to you, that whatever this is about, it's important to you." Mac answered. He led them into the living room as he took their coats.

Not used to seeing Mac Scorpio outside of his position as Police Commissioner, Sam studied him quietly as he helped first her and then Alexis out of their coats. While he and Alexis made small talk, she took the time to look around, looking for some kind of clue as to what kind of man he was. Anything that could give her a clue as to how to say what she'd come to say - or at least what not to say would help.

Seeing him at home was giving her insight into a side of him that she would have never considered before. The room told a lot about him; this was a house that was a home. It was like nothing she had ever known. The color, the furniture, all of it was warm and - yes, cozy - as corny as that might sound. There were family pictures on the mantel, sharing space with childhood knickknacks built in schooldays long gone by; the furniture, neat and stylish, at the same time looked well used and loved, not like the sterile high-fashion place she called home. In direct contrast to her designer digs, this room reflected the family that lived in it. In spite of the nervousness twisting her insides into knots, Sam felt the remnants of the warmth that must have filled this house once upon a time. A trace of it was still there, but now there was a pall of sadness that overlay it all. A shroud of sadness that reached out and raked across her nerves. She swallowed nervously, wondering if coming here had been the right thing to do. All of her all fears came rushing back and once again she was on the outside, looking in.

And Mac himself? With her new-found sense of empathy, Sam could see the sadness in his eyes, still fresh from the news of Georgie's death. But in spite of that, his gaze was warm, welcome - and yes, curious - and she couldn't blame him for that. She wondered if any of those feelings would still be there after she'd said what she'd come to say or would they be drowned in a tide of condemnation. Her hands went cold as she held on to the manila envelope that held the secret she'd come to share.

Mac gestured to the couch, offering them a seat. "Maxie will be down in a minute..." he told his guests. Or so he hoped. Her reaction to the news that Alexis Davis and Sam McCall were on their way over had not been one of her best. He sighed to himself. Maxie had been - difficult - in the last few years, but Georgie's death had hit her so hard, he was almost afraid to reach out to her for anything these days. She was so brittle, so full of carefully checked pain and rage that he was afraid that the wrong thing would send her flying into pieces. But when Alexis had come to him at the PCPD, both the look in her eyes and the tone of her voice had told him that whatever this was, it was important. "...but I have to admit, I'm more than a little curious to find out what it is the two of you wanted to have a conversation with the two of us about."

"Neither one of us means to be so mysterious about this, Mac, really." Alexis tried to explain; she glanced at Sam worriedly and then faced Mac again. This wasn't going to be easy, no matter what she tried to do to help. "It's just that I ...Sam....we... came across a particular piece of information, and well - in its way it's as important to you as it is important to us - and we thought that it was something that the two of you needed to hear as soon as possible - but not at the PCPD - and to hear it together."

A kitchen timer chimed from the next room. "I brewed some coffee and picked up some pastries on the way home." Mac explained. "I hope you don't mind. Whatever this news is, it's something we can have coffee over, isn't it?" He smiled encouragingly at Sam, trying to ease her all too apparent uneasiness.

Sam looked at him for only a moment before her eyes dropped.

"I guess so." Sam said, sounding more than a little uncertain. Now that she was here standing in the Scorpios' living room, much of her earlier determination quickly faded away. She couldn't even bring herself to look Mac in the face. How was she going to tell him anything?

Instead of Mac's kind voice, she suddenly heard Cody, her so-called father's voice, echoing in her head...as cold and callous as ever. "You're damaged goods, sweetheart. You're the poster child for the kind of person that the world just waits for to kick you in the teeth and stomp you once you're down. No one wants you...and no one is ever going to hand you any breaks. So you'd better use what you got to get what you want - be ready and willing to take and tale and take, 'cause no one in this world is going to ever give you anything..."

Alexis watched her with concern in her eyes. She could see the battle going on inside of Sam and wanted so badly to reach out and hold her, help her through this, but she knew that this was a battle that she couldn't fight for the younger woman. Her own gaze turned to see Mac watching the both of them.

"You didn't have to go through so much trouble." Alexis said, stalling for time for Sam's sake. She was thankful that Mac was such a compassionate and understanding man. Working with him, she'd learned that much about him; the whole department knew just how much he loved Maxie and Georgie - they were his daughters in everything but blood. But then again, that was pure Mac. A gentler and caring man she didn't know, even though she knew that she didn't know Mac well at all. But it was there in his face, in his eyes. And she knew, like all of Port Charles did, that he had raised his brother's children when both of their parents had basically abandoned them. Alexis only hoped that his compassion could extend to another little girl who just might need him too. She might be grown up on the outside, but inside, Alexis knew that Sam was still a little girl, with all the needs a little girl has.

Mac picked up on the fact that Sam didn't say anything; he looked at her again; the curiosity in his gaze was tempered by concern, so he decided not to press the issue. "Alexis, care to join me in the kitchen and lend me a hand?"

"Me in a kitchen, obviously, Mac, you really don't know me at all, otherwise you would never take the chance of allowing me over the threshold and into your kitchen." Alexis tried for a joke. It did manage put a brief smile on Sam's face, she noticed. She smiled back at her. "Are you going to be okay?" she asked.

Sam nodded. "Sure, I'll be fine." She lied and watched as Alexis and Mac left the room. Too nervous to sit, she started pacing back and forth across the living room, tightly gripping the manila envelope that held her future in her hands. Sam started to worry all over again; she didn't know where she was going to find the nerve to do what she was about to do, to say what she was about to say. But honestly, that was the least of her worries. Once she said what she'd come to say, there was no taking those words back. And all of their lives would be changed, one way or the other. The first question was, would it be for better or for worst?

The second question was, which of those would it be - and for who?


	3. Chapter 3

**CHAPTER THREE**

"Can you at least give me a hint of what this is all about?" Mac asked Alexis as he poured the coffee into a carafe and arranged the cream and sugar bowls along side the cups on a tray. Alexis looked at him and shrugged; instead of answering him directly, she gestured, asking silently how to help and in reply, he pointed to the counter where a few boxes of different pastries sat next to a second tray. Alexis walked over and began setting them out.

Mac waited, but when she didn't answer, pressed her. "I don't have to tell you that it's a rough time for us right now. I have enough going on in my life right now, Alexis. And so does Maxie. The last few weeks haven't been easy and neither one of us are up to any more mysteries except for the one that will tell us who killed Georgie."

Neither one of them said any more, but they both knew that Georgie's murder was still all too fresh in both of their minds, along with the attacks on Alexis and Sam as well. As the acting DA and the Police Commissioner, these serial killings had touched them on both a personal and professional level.

"I'm sorry Mac - for everything. And I don't mean to be purposefully evasive." Alexis looked at him, hoping that he could see the truth in her gaze. "I know you - and Maxie - have been though so much lately, but the truth is, this isn't my story to tell." Looking into his warm brown eyes, the last thing she wanted to do, Alexis realized, was to bring more pain into his life. She hoped with everything in her that this isn't what they were about to do.

"So it's Sam's secret?" Mac asked. Alexis nodded and Mac did the same as he took in her words. His face took on a thoughtful expression. "And let me guess, you're here for moral support."

It wasn't really a question, but a statement of fact. From his expression, Alexis could see that Mac understood that and she nodded again.

"I guess I can't fault you for that." Mac glanced up to the second story of his home and Alexis knew he was thinking of Maxie. "It's what any caring parent would do for their child."

He was definitely right about that. Alexis hoped he would remember those words. Sam was going to need that.

"We do what we can to protect them..." His voice caught in his throat as he realized what he'd said. He hadn't been able to protect Georgie… Mac froze as the blame choked him once again. He'd failed her – the thought slammed into him – he'd failed his little girl and some faceless monster had choked the life out of her….

"Mac," Alexis saw his face and guessed at his thoughts. When he didn't appear to have heard her, she reached out and laid her hand over his. The contact broke through his pain. For a moment their eyes met and understanding of a parent's unending, all-encompassing love flowed between them. "You were – are - the best father. I bet if I asked Maxie, she'd swear to it. And Mac, I know everyone has been saying it, but I really am sorry for your loss. And again, we wouldn't be here if it wasn't important."

"I just hope you know what you're doing. Maxie isn't... well she hasn't been her most pleasant self lately... not since Georgie died." Mac didn't know what to say beyond that, so he picked up the coffee tray. He turned as though to start towards the door leading back into the living room, but stopped as a new voice joined their conversation.

"That's putting it nicely, Mac. Especially since we both know that every one in PC thinks I don't have a pleasant self to begin with - and that opinion was there long before my sister was killed."

Surprised by her sudden appearance, Alexis and Mac jerked around from where they were standing to face Maxie as she came down the stairs.

Mac sighed inside as he saw the stubborn and defiant expression on her face. Maxie always retreated behind sarcasm and a facade of uncaring, even more so when she was hurt or afraid. And losing Georgie had brought out the worst of that. His worse fears were realized as she continued.

"So this is what you wanted me here for, Mac? To help you be a gracious host and accept more tea and sympathy?" Her eyes were bright with pain and unshed tears, but her voice was high and sharp and full of anger. "Well, thanks but no thanks - I'm tired of everyone just dropping by with their well meaning soft spoken words - because all the while I can see in their eyes what they really think - and that's how is it that poor sweet smart Georgie died - but I lived. Because after all, if anyone deserved to get killed, wasn't it me?"

"Maxie..." Mac tried to caution her in a warning tone, but she overrode him, her words hot with pain, searing the air between them with the hurt and anger over her sister's death that was still boiling hotly just below the surface. She looked suspiciously at Alexis and then her eyes swung back to Mac. He saw the storm brewing in her eyes, but before Mac could stop her, she went on the attack.

"Did you come here with the same false sympathies, Alexis? Oh, wait a minute...instead of the usual hearts and flowers, here you two are all cozy in the kitchen. Have the two of you decided on taking your professional relationship a little further? Are Sam and I supposed to be chaperoning you two or something?" Her gaze went back to Alexis. "Maybe you were looking to offer some special comfort to my uncle all along and my sister's death was your ticket in?"

"Maxie, stop it! We don't even know why they're here." A part of him knew he should shut her down, stop her from taking out her pain on Alexis, but at the same time, Mac just couldn't find it in him to be angry with her. He knew her too well and knew that it was her pain that was talking, so he did his soften his voice, hoping it will calm her down and bring her back to her senses. "Is this necessary?"

Maxie turned on Alexis. "Well, if I'm so wrong, then why are you here? Is it to offer your condolences - again? We've heard all the right words the first time around and we don't need to hear them again."

Alexis didn't know what to say, but she tried anyway. "I am sorry for your loss, yes, I'm sorry that Georgie died, but that's not why we're here..."

"Let's not candy coat the situation, okay? Georgie didn't die - she was murdered."

Alexis recognized that Maxie was lashing out in pain - just as Sam was prone to do. Considering why they were here, she wasn't surprised by the similarity.

"I am so sorry about that, Maxie." Alexis said. "If there's anything that I could ever do to help..."

"There isn't." Maxie cut her off again, her eyes filling with tears that she refused to allow to fall. Her words slashed the air. "You don't know what it's like... I…I buried my baby sister a few days ago. She was smart and beautiful and everything I could never even come close to hoping to be. She had her whole life ahead of her and now she's gone. Nobody knows what that's like."

Mac put the tray down and took a step towards her in comfort, but he froze in shock as she stepped back from him. Right now, she didn't want comfort, not even from Mac, who was the closest thing to a father she'd ever known. "Not even you, Mac. As much as you want to... not even you..." her voice broke and for a moment she couldn't go on as a sob escaped her.

"But I do know exactly what it's like." It was Alexis' soft voice that filled the sudden quiet. "My baby sister was smart and beautiful, with an appetite for life that I knew that I could never even come close to having. My Kristina was everything I knew I could never be either. So yes, I know what it's like to lose a little sister to a random act of violence that makes no sense at all." Alexis said. This wasn't a conversation she hadn't planned on having; the sense of loss Maxie must be feeling rippled through her as well and she felt an unexpected sting of tears come to her own eyes along with a flash of remembered pain. "I know what it's like to bury a little sister... all too well."

A small hollow silence filled the space after her words.


	4. Chapter 4

**CHAPTER FOUR**

Unwillingly, Maxie felt a rush of shame as it flooded through her, leaving her flushed and trembling; her face burned with it; she'd forgotten that Alexis Davis had had a sister who had been killed. That truth swallowed up her own rage and hurt for a moment and made her feel for the other woman.... Maxie stared at Alexis, momentarily stunned into silence, but then the angry pain surging through her twisted her insides into a painful knot.

Maxie didn't want to feel anyone else's pain but her own... empathy and compassion was a feeling she didn't want. It wasn't fair... it wasn't fair at all! Georgie shouldn't be dead. Not her beautiful, smart, compassionate sister. The one that everyone who ever met her had loved and admired. The one that everyone had looked at and then looked at her, and wondered why couldn't Maxie be more like her sister? And the look of empathy - there was that word again! - the look that told her that Alexis did know exactly what she was feeling was almost more than she could bear. So Maxie retreated into the emotion that was much more familiar and comforting to her - anger.

"So what brings you here? What is it that you need to tell us over milk and cookies?" she forced the words past the tightness in her throat. "Have you found out who killed my sister?"

"I have every available resource working hard on this case, but no, we haven't found any new evidence..." Alexis tried to explain.

"Then why are you here?" Maxie spat at her angrily. She could feel the tears starting to spill out of her eyes but instead of bringing her comfort, they just fueled her helpless rage. Her voice rose, choked with emotion and she had to struggle to get the words. A part of her knew she was wrong, but she couldn't help herself. And a part of her didn't want to anyway. "What was so important that you had to come here tonight? If you didn't have anything new to tell us that could help my family, why couldn't you just leave us alone?"

"Stop yelling at Alexis!"

Maxie spun around to see Sam standing in the kitchen doorway, dark eyes blazing. She stepped into the room and kept moving until she was face to face with Maxie. "You want to yell at somebody, then yell at me, because the only reason Alexis is here is because of me. She's here because I had something to tell the two of you and she didn't want me to have to do it by myself."

Maxie saw the protective fire in Sam's eyes and it didn't do anything except to remind her that she'd lost that too - along time ago. Sure, Felicia had shown up when she'd heard about Georgie's death, another empty mouth, mouthing empty platitudes and trying to play the grieving mother role, but it didn't fit her any better now than the loving mother role had fit her before she'd abandoned her and Georgie years ago to pursue her own life.

So to see this protective mother-daughter in effect raked Maxie's nerves with jagged claws of jealousy. It didn't matter that she and Sam had been on their way to becoming friends of a sort, mostly over their dislike of Elizabeth Webber. It didn't matter that they'd recognized kindred spirits in one another. The kick tail, take no prisoners attitude was alive and well in the both of them. They were enough alike to recognize who they were in one another. Somehow, she had never been able to get along with girls her age. Except for Georgie. It didn't matter what she did or what she said, Georgie was always there to stand by her, no matter what.

Or she had been. She was gone now, murdered by some sick sociopath who'd left her sprawled lifeless body in the park like yesterday's trash.

Up until recently, she and Mac had been the only persons that had accepted her without expectations and recriminations. And then along came Sam. A few chance conversations here and there and the two of them had fallen into an easy camaraderie that she guessed could be called a friendship. But Maxie's pain was still too raw and too fresh and the last thing she wanted was friendship and sympathy and tea and cookies. "What, you couldn't pick up the phone and call? Leave a message? Drop off a note? Did you need a new wardrobe change for your television show and that just couldn't wait?"

"No, what I had to say couldn't wait. Or maybe it could - I just don't know anymore!" she snapped back. And just so you know, this doesn't have anything to do with the show. Do you think I'd bother you with something like that at a time like this?" Sam wanted to explain, but couldn't find the words to begin.

"I don't know, Sam. Seems like you have a reputation of being that self-centered, so anything is possible. After all, wouldn't this be a coup for you and your Everyday Heroes?" Maxie shot back. It was so much easier to retreat back into anger as a shield against her hurt. "I'll tell you what - if you leave right now, I'll make sure that you get an extra twenty percent discount for your next wardrobe change!"

"You can keep your discount - this has nothing to do with the show - I told you that!" Without thinking, Sam slipped back into her old habits of attacking with words to defend herself and her own jumbled-up emotions forced the words past her lips before she had a chance to think about what she was saying. "You want to call me selfish- try looking in the mirror! Seems I've heard the same said about you!"

"I've had worse said about me, so what? I'm still waiting to see the camera crew."

"I didn't come here for that..." Sam suddenly realized what she was doing - what Maxie was doing - they were both using anger to hide their pain and fear. It was with a jolt that she realized that they really were more alike than she'd seen. That thought hit her like a ton of rocks and she unconsciously took a step backwards.

Seeing her move, Maxie saw it as a retreat and followed her, looking to attack even harder, to force these unwanted guests from their house. Something in their eyes filled her with dread - whatever it was they had come to tell her, Maxie suddenly knew she didn't want to hear. She didn't know why, but she wanted them gone.

"Why did you come here at all? Didn't you see the big white wreath on the front door? Don't you know that means that this is a house of mourning? Or what you needed to do was so much more important than the little fact that my sister is dead?" Maxie raged at her.

At the word sister, Sam faltered for just a moment; but then she went on. "This is important - to me, to you - to all of us! Would you just let me say what I had to say and stop thinking of just yourself!"

"So I should let you just go on and drop your little news bombshell on us - because it's convenient for you!?" Maxie laughed, and it was wrapped in bitterness. "And people call me selfish!"

"Do you think you're the only one who's ever lost anybody? I had a brother - and he died, too - and a daughter - or did you forget that little fact? Do you think this is easy for me to be here at a time like this? Don't you think knowing that you lost your sister made me remember that I lost my brother and my child and that I don't feel that pain all over again? No, only your pain matters to you, doesn't it?"

"No, it doesn't!" Maxie's voice crackled in fury.

Her nerves already on overload, Sam lost what little control she had. "Then would you please just shut up! For one minute, could you just close your mouth and listen for a change? Is that too much to ask!?"

"Maybe it is too much to ask... but it's easy to fix!" Maxie pointed in the general direction of the front door. "I'm not interested in anything you have to say, Sam. So, get out!" She took a step towards Sam as if she were going to put her out herself. It added to her fury that Sam showed no signs of backing down. "Fine...if that's the way you want it...."

"Samantha!"

"Maxie!"

Stunned into an unbelieving silence by the sudden verbal violence that had sprung up between Sam and Maxie, Mac and Alexis both found their voices at the same time. The shock in their voices caught both young women by surprise. They stared at one another as they realized how horrible and unfeeling they must have sounded to Mac and Alexis. And the both of them were instantly ashamed.

A tense silence spread through the room. Mac was the first to break it. "Why don't we take all of this, go into the living room, sit down and calmly listen to what it is Sam has come to say?"

"I think that's a great idea." Alexis seconded the motion. "We'll take a moment to regroup, get ourselves together and move on and have an adult conversation."

Maxie moved again, this time to Alexis, to snatch the tray out of her hands. "Let's not. Let's just get this over with." Maxie slammed the tray down on the kitchen counter with a harsh clang and turned to face Sam. "You said you had something to say? Well, just say it."

Sam's eyes looked from Maxie's face to Alexis', then Mac and back to Maxie again. She struggled for control.

"Look, I didn't come here looking to upset you, Maxie - or you either, Mac. I found out something I didn't expect to - and it involves you and Mac - whether you like it or not."

"You didn't want to upset us? Too late, it's already happened." Maxie said. "Spill it, Sam. Let's hear this news that just couldn't wait."

Sam's lips parted, closed and then she seemed to gather herself together. "I found out who my father was. He's Frisco Jones."


	5. Chapter 5

**CHAPTER FIVE**

The first one to break the silence was Maxie. An unbelieving laugh escaped from her as her face twisted into an expression of disbelief and then rage. "That's a lie! What is this? Some kind of very bad joke?" She turned on Sam, her eyes flashing angrily. "I get it - this is some kind of pimp job for your television show, isn't it? Should we be looking for some hidden cameras?" She looked around, her movements deliberately exaggerated and finished up by fixing Sam with an accusing glare.

In answer, Samantha shook her head so emphatically her dark curls danced around her face. "No...no way would I do that to you. To either of you." she said, her eyes went from Maxie's face to Mac's, pleading for understanding. She wasn't surprised at Maxie's reaction; after all she knew how she'd react if the shoe was on the other foot. Mac, however, was another thing. For some reason, she found herself needing him to believe her, needing it so bad she ached inside.

"No way?" Maxie snapped. "Please! We both know you're more than capable of doing that - and more." She looked at Mac and was shocked by what she saw. He was obviously stunned at Sam's words, but even as she watched, she could see the pain in his eyes. She knew, in a way that Sam and Alexis could not, how much this hurt him...and why.... He had loved them all - Maxie, Georgie and Robin... he'd had a soft spot for three little girls whose parents hadn't been there for them the way they should have been, for whatever reasons. And in his mind, maybe here was another one, abandoned by the same man who left Georgie and Maxie behind....

Because she loved him as the father she'd never really had, Maxie saw all of that in a glimpse and it did something to her; something inside of her, indefinable and unexplainable, gathered itself together and hardened itself into a hard knot, turning her voice sharp and incredulous. "Tell me you aren't buying this Mac!?"

For a moment he couldn't answer her. None of them could know what memories Sam's word had brought back to him. Even though it had all happened so long ago, the pain of learning that a child he loved from the moment he knew of her existence, from before she'd even been born, belonged to another man came roaring back inside him with all the force of a hurricane. Somehow, learning that Frisco had fathered another child - while he'd been left with nothing - again - resonated deep inside of him with an vicious ache that Mac had thought he'd put behind him long ago.

He'd lost Georgie twice, the first time when it had been determined that Frisco was her father and not him...and this last time for forever... and now he was being forced to remember all the rage he'd hidden for all of these years, rage at Frisco for turning his back on the joy, the gift he - Mac - had been given for being the father he needed...that emotion, all tangled up with pain, stunned him into silence. After all these years, hearing the words that made Frisco a father, reminded him of what kind of father he'd turned out to be...and now it turned out, he'd done it again, turned another innocent life upside down.

That realization shredded his usual calm demeanor and left him feeling sick to his stomach. Mac struggled with this; he fought an inward battle with himself to get through this because even as his own pain threatened to turn him inside out, another part of him was telling him that he could only imagine what this news was doing to Maxie. As brave of a front Maxie put on for the world, behind all of her fire and rage there was still the little girl that he loved. And she was still reeling from not just Georgie's death, but Felicia's drop-in, drop-back out of her life appearance. This news from Samantha McCall had to devastate her, remind her of her loss all over again - though she would never ever admit it. He just needed a moment to find the words that would make it all right for her...

But he was all too human and the effect of this news was more than he could take, no matter what he told himself he needed to do. Almost blindly, he reached for the nearest kitchen chair and held on to the back of it as though it were the only thing holding him up. He raised his eyes to Sam. "Are you sure?" he asked.

Sam, touched by his reaction, couldn't speak, but just nodded.

Alexis had been quiet through all of this, but she was watching Mac with concern in her eyes. "Are you all right, Mac? Do you want anything?" she gestured towards the coffee. She knew it was little enough to offer, but she honestly didn't know what else she could do.

"No." Mac said. He looked at her, and tried for a little smile to acknowledge her concern. "This is just all a lot to take in. I have to assume that if you're here with Sam, that you believe that this is true. Are you? Are the both of you very sure?"

Sam nodded. "As sure as I can be...but..."

"...but how in the world could she be sure of something as crazy as that!" Maxie finish her sentence for her. She turned back to the other woman. "What kind of con are you trying to run now? Are you going to try and tell me that Alexis and my father had an affair?" Her eyes raked over Alexis. "Sorry, Alexis, but somehow, I can't see you going all Mrs. Robinson on my dear old dad. Not that he wouldn't have turned your offer down. From what I hear, he didn't turn down much."

Alexis felt her face flush hotly at the implied insult but managed to stay quiet. This was Sam's battle, not hers. And she could clearly see that it was pain and disbelief that was fueling Maxie's words.

"Alexis isn't my birth mother." Sam said quietly. Unconsciously her eyes went to her. Inside she ached all over again, recognizing all too clearly the pain lingering behind Alexis' eyes, even though the other woman was trying her best to hide it. Feeling Sam's eyes on her, Alexis even managed an encouraging smile. And somehow that smile showed her how strong Alexis was and seeing Alexis' strength gave her back some of her own.

Something inside her resolved itself; Sam straightened up and squared her shoulders. Now that the truth was out, the gates inside of her opened, the words came spilling out and she was unable and unwilling to stop the flood.

"My father is Frisco Jones and my mother is... was ... a woman named Tania Roskov. From what I've found out, they had a one night stand, long before she ever came to Port Charles and I was the result. For whatever reason...neither one of them wanted me..." Sam's voice faltered a little bit, ...no one ever wanted her... but she took a deep breath and continued. "Long story short, I was put up for adoption, but that was something I was never knew and didn't find out until after my brother died." That memory stabbed deep. "I never knew any of this, I never knew that my brother wasn't my brother - until after he died."

"Tania Roskov married Tony Jones, Frisco's brother." Mac said slowly, his mind racing, sorting through his memory. It was clear that he was trying to piece together what Sam was telling him with what he already knew.

"I know that." Sam said. It was easier to talk to Mac rather than Maxie; she could feel the icy disbelief coming off of Maxie in waves, but she wasn't getting that vibe from Mac at all. "I guess she never told anyone about the baby - about me, I mean." She looked at Alexis again, reluctant to bare her past to relative strangers. Alexis nodded to encourage her.

Sam continued. "I tried to find out who my real parents were, and I guess somehow, somewhere, some records got mixed up, because what I found was that Alexis Davis, a teenaged mom, had had a baby in the same year I was born. She was told that the baby had died, but we both figured that she'd been lied to by her father, and we both believed that Alexis was my mother, but things kept happening and the question of who my father was something that we just never got a chance to get into until recently. I.. I guess almost being killed made me need to find out who made me live in the first place became really really important. So a little while ago, we finally had a DNA test run, and that's when I found out the truth." Sam laughed a bitter little laugh. "It's funny, in a way. It was a DNA that told me that my brother and I weren't related, and now another one is the one who tells me that my mother...isn't my mother, after all. And it looks like neither... father wanted... me." Her last words came out in a choked half-whisper and let slip some of the vulnerability she was feeling show.

Sam glanced at Maxie when she was finished. She thought she saw a thaw come into her eyes, but she wasn't sure.

"And just how did you manage to narrow it down to my father?" Maxie asked. Her doubt still very evident in her expression, but some of the anger had drained out of her voice. Like it or not, Maxie had heard the emotion in Sam's voice, especially when she spoke of not being wanted. Something inside of her reacted to that - it was a feeling she'd felt herself all too often. Like it or not - and she wasn't sure that she liked it - Maxie knew she could relate enough to understand what Sam was feeling. Georgie's death had brought all of those emotions back with a vengeance. She didn't want to...but she stayed quiet to listen to the answer.

"That would be because of me." Alexis explained. "I used our Cassadine connections to gain access to DNA databases and resources that honestly, most people aren't privy to. That's how we narrowed it down so quickly. We haven't known about this more than a week. And we just didn't see a reason to keep this a secret from you any longer."

Mac had managed to compose himself. "If this is true, then all of this must have been a big shock to you."

The rush of relief that went through Sam at his words was so strong that it threatened to buckle her knees. He believed her! Or at the very least, he wasn't calling her a liar and throwing her out of the front door. "I know you don't have any reason to believe me..."

"I haven't got any reason not to believe you." Mac told her. "Especially if you and Alexis say you have DNA proof."

Sam had been holding the manila envelope all this time. She handed it to him. "There's the truth to back up what I'm saying right there."

Mac took the package from her, opened it and leafed through some of its contents. He'd seen enough of these tests to know what to look for and found it quickly. He looked up at Maxie. "This looks pretty genuine."

Maxie looked at him and her lingering disbelief colored her voice. "You've got to be kidding me, Mac. You're just going to take her word, take her papers and that's it? I'm no saint, but neither is Sam. She's a professional con - the whole town knows that."

"I used to be a con artist - there's no point in lying about that and I won't. But I'm not anymore. And why would I lie about this?" Sam asked her.

"And ask yourself, why would I?" Alexis added.

Maxie didn't have an answer for either of them. For Sam, she could come up with any number of scenarios. They were alike that way, always ready with a plan or a scheme to get them what they wanted. And she herself knew that what they wanted didn't have to always make sense. It was all about what they wanted - what they thought they needed - in the moment.

But Alexis Davis? She had nothing to gain from this. A growing unease began growing in her as she began to accept that just maybe, Sam was telling the truth. That Frisco had fathered a child that no one had known about... and thrown her away, just like he'd thrown away Maxie and Georgie.... a bubble of hysterical laughter rose to her lips and escaped, startling everyone.

"This is just too much! So good old daddy dearest was a rolling stone long before he ever hooked up with Mom? Did he even bother to marry this Tania? No, wait... it doesn't matter... none of this matters. It doesn't matter what those papers say." Her emotions exploded. "They don't make you my sister. My sister is dead and you're not going to take her place...not ever!"

Before anyone could react, Maxie spun herself around and fled back upstairs the way she'd come down; a few minutes later, her door slammed shut and the sound echoed through the stunned silence that rose up in her wake.

"This is all a lot to take in, Sam." Mac said. He sighed and looked upstairs. "I don't know what to tell you right now. Maybe I should go and talk to her, see if I can get her to come back down so we can all talk about it."

"No," Sam said. "Let me. I'm the one who made this mess. Let me at least try to be the one to start cleaning it up."


	6. Chapter 6

**CHAPTER SIX**

After Mac told her which room was Maxie's, Sam went up slowly, trying to gather her nerves together for the showdown she knew she was probably coming. It was an odd jumble of feelings that went with her because before now, it had never been in her nature to worry about what other people thought of what she said or what she did. In her profession, that had been a luxury she hadn't ever been able to ever afford. But now, everything was different.

She was different.

Had been since she'd hit Port Charles. She'd lost her heart - or had found it - depending on how she looked at it. And because of all of what had happened to her, because of her finding love so deep and true and having to suffer the agony of losing it and not even really understanding how it happened, and finding a love with the people she had come to think of as family, and learning that that kind of love couldn't ever be lost or thrown away by her own chance or circumstances or even by her own foolishness, now...now she couldn't find it in herself to blame Maxie for her reaction; if she had been in Maxie's shoes, if she had been the one finding out the news Sam had brought to her doorstep, then she might have reacted the same way - or worse. Both she and Maxie were both capable of so much worse. It was one of the things that had led them to bond - recognition of the take-no-prisoners and burn the place down if they had to- attitude they had towards the world. Without it being said, they had recognized a kindred spirit in each other.

And now it turned out, not only were they kindred spirits, they were actually kin. Funny, wasn't it that now there was a concrete reason as to why they were more alike than they had ever guessed.

That realization brought a reluctant smile crossed her face, one that she quickly wiped away before she reached Maxie's door. Sam knocked once lightly, but didn't get an answer. She sighed aloud. Ignoring her wasn't going to make Sam go away and Maxie needed to know that. The deed was done, the secret was out and now it was time for all of them to learn how to deal with it. So Sam took a deep breath, knocked again, harder this time and when she still didn't get an answer, took a chance and opened the door.

Just in time to see Maxie perched on the windowsill, with one leg halfway over it and halfway gone.

Maxie didn't blink at being caught. Instead, her gaze was bright and defiant as she stared at Sam. "So you've got no manners on top of everything else? Or do you feel suddenly entitled to roam through our house at will?"

"Why, is that some sort of family trait?" Sam answered; she leaned against the doorway, displaying nonchalance and a calmness she certainly wasn't feeling. She was walking across a minefield and knew it. And the last thing she wanted to do was set off another explosion. Surprising herself with her self-control, she paused, trying to choose her words carefully. "I didn't know this news was so traumatizing to you that it made you want to jump."

"Don't flatter yourself." Maxie shot Sam a sharp and still-angry glance, but made no move to go any further out of the window. "I've been climbing out this window and down the pecan tree since I was thirteen."

"I believe it." Sam walked further into the room to face her. "But running away now isn't going to solve anything, you know. I'm not lying - but you know that too.... after all, it takes one..."

"..to know one?" Maxie finished the line for her, the sarcasm heavy in her voice. "Yeah, so we both know how to lie and scheme when it suits us. And with dear old daddy being some kind of international super sleuth, I guess that's supposed to be yet another family trait coming into play?"

"If you say so." Sam shrugged, trying for nonchalance even though she was doing her best to tip-toe around Maxie's feelings - even if the other woman didn't realize it. "Either way, you know I was telling the truth. I don't have any agenda in mind - except to share the truth that I learned with the people who deserve to know. And even if you run tonight, the fact that Frisco Jones is my father isn't going away." She was very careful not to refer to the fact that this made them sisters. She had the idea that that would only remind Maxie of the sister she had lost and that would only reignite Maxie's fury. "That's a fact that is still going to be here whenever you decide to come home."

"Yeah, but you and your truth won't be here getting in my face when I do, right? Unless you were planning on moving in?" Maxie's didn't bother to hide the resentment in her voice. " Although I'd guess our homey little brownstone would be a huge step down from your fancy high-rise apartment."

Sam shook her head; this time a tiny smile did creep across her face. "No, I like my "fancy" apartment just fine, but thanks for the offer."

Maxie hesitated and then pulled her leg back in from over the window sill. "Okay, so now you're making jokes, trying to set me at ease, yadda, yadda. But what you really came up here to do is talk. And you're not going to quit until you get what you want. So fine. Talk. And you can start off by telling me how you figured all of this out by your lonesome."

"I had help." Sam sighed before beginning. Alexis and her family connections had confirmed what she'd discovered, but if it hadn't been for Spinelli and his skills that had actually dug deep into her DNA files and set up a cross check that had put her on the right path, she would have never know where to begin. "But first off, let me say that I'm sorry if what I said downstairs came out wrong; I never meant to imply in any way that my showing up here meant that I wanted to take Georgie's place in your family."

"Good, because you can't." Maxie said fiercely.

Sam took a deep breath and squashed the heated words that rose to her lips even while her hands clenched themselves into fists. She had been trying to be patient, but that had never been a virtue of hers any more than it had been one of Maxie's. But still, she swallowed her anger and forced herself to relax. This wasn't just about her hurt and her need and she tried her best to keep her focus on that. She'd just dropped a bombshell into Maxie Jones' life and there was bound to be some collateral damage. " Do you think you can manage to listen to me for a minute without smashing anything else - and actually listening?"

"You've got fifteen minutes. After that, I have other things to do." Maxie said. "I did have a life before you decided to drop this little news flash on Mac and me. Contrary to what you might think, the world didn't stop spinning when you had our great revelation."

Now that Maxie had given her the chance, Sam started pacing a little, trying to find the words to explain all that she was feeling. But how could she, when she barely understood all the different emotions flooding through her all at once. But she was determined to try. "Alexis never seemed to be able to find the right time to tell me who my father was. When I first found out that she was my mother, I was so full of hate and pent-up resentment against the woman that I believed threw me away that I never even stopped to ask who my father was. But eventually, after Alexis and I got to a good place, I started thinking about it. And then I began to wonder why she never told me herself." Sam stopped for a moment, remembering how she had felt about that.

"There had to be a reason why she never told me, I figured. And it couldn't be good. My first thought was that maybe she'd been raped when she was a teenager and gave me away. Or maybe her family had forced her. In either case, the last thing I wanted to do was bring that memory back into her life. So I went to my friendly neighborhood computer genius..."

"Spinelli." Maxie said.

"Exactly. And long story short, he created a program that could sift through and match DNA samples. It was an accident that Frisco's name ever came up. He was running a test on the program and he accessed the General Hospital records just to run them as a comparison check. He told me later that he had purposely hacked into a database with little to no recent activity and was shocked to see a match come up with Frisco Jones' name on it.

"After that, we ran a DNA analysis against Alexis and me, and that's when I learned that Alexis wasn't my mother. We had plenty of the same genetic markers, but there were a few vital ones that just didn't match up." She didn't tell Maxie that Alexis had actually cried when she found out that Sam wasn't hers, but her heart ached with the memory.

"So you had this great revelation. Now what? What do you want?" Maxie asked.

"I don't know." Sam admitted. "I really don't have a clue. Look, Maxie, I'm not asking for hearts and flowers, just some understanding. You don't know what it's been like for me all these years; you have no real idea of what it is not to be wanted." She started off...

"Don't be so sure. Look around, Sam - do you see mommy dearest or dear old dad anywhere in sight?" Maxie said. "You've been in Port Charles for a while now, so ask yourself - in all the time you've known me, have you ever? Nope, it's been me, Mac...Georgie.." her voice faltered for just a minute. "And even my cousin Robin since she came back from Paris, but sorry, no mommy and no daddy. So you don't have the monopoly on abandonment. Try again."

"But still - you had a Mac in your life. And you had Georgie. And Robin. Me, I had nobody. A mother - and the one of the few things good that came out of this was learning that that witch was not my mother - who made it very clear that she didn't want me, and a father who saw me as just another tool to be used in his cons. The only person that I knew that loved me was my brother Danny, and I was the one who he depended on. Me, I didn't have anyone to depend on to be there for me when the chips were down and I learned that lesson practically from the day I was born - or at least as far back as I can remember. That made me what I am - and that's one reason why we're so much alike.

"But that changed after I found out that Alexis was my mother. It wasn't until then that I found what you had - even if you didn't have your parents."

Sam walked over to Maxie's dresser, trailing thoughtful fingers across the line of framed photographs; pictures of Maxie's life: she and Georgie as little girls standing next to a lopsided snowman; graduation pictures with a beaming Mac with his arms around the both of them, pictures of a life that Sam had only dreamed of. Her eyes prickled with unwanted tears and she blinked them angrily away. "You have a family that loves you. I didn't have that ... not until I found out that Alexis was my mother. And by the time I found out about her, so much had happened in my life that like an idiot, I turned around and I took it all out on her."

She walked back across the room to face Maxie who was still perched in the window. "I told myself I hated her, made sure she knew it and to top it all off, I didn't miss an opportunity to show it. But Alexis didn't care, for the longest time, she did her best to be a mother, to show me that unconditional love that parents have for their children. But I didn't know how to handle it, because I'd never had it before. And don't tell me about Felicia and Frisco..." she said, seeing the look in Maxie's eyes and guessing at the words that were hovering on her tongue. She held up a hand to stop her words. "You had Mac in your corner, and just looking around this house, I can tell that his love more than made up for anything that you thought you didn't get from the two of them. Or am I wrong?"

Reluctantly, Maxie had to admit that Sam was right.

"I'll never be able to make it up to Alexis, how horrible I was to her. And then to find out that she isn't my mother after all... I mean, not by blood. But in every other way that counts, she's always going to be my mother. She's made it clear – she's not going anywhere. I think Alexis is going to be my Mac. Blood doesn't matter to her, any more than it meant for Mac." Sam smiled a funny little smile, full of love and wonderment and regrets all rolled up into one. "She must be crazy, but she's willing to be stuck with me. What is she thinking, right? "

Sam paused, took a guess and took a chance. "And I bet you've said the same about Mac, right? What is wrong with the both of them?" Another little grin followed her words.

"They must be certifiably crazy to put up with either one of us." Maxie admitted. A reluctant smile of her own hovered at the edges of her lips.

"That's what I'm thinking." Sam said, grateful that she'd managed to find common ground for them to agree on something - anything - on. "I'm just trying to find out who I am. I'm sorry that that led me to your door, especially at a time like this, but I had to know. And as soon as I found out, it was just something inside of me that wouldn't let me put it off... finding out that there are people out there that are of the same blood... " Sam shook her head helplessly. "It's too hard to put into words."

Unwillingly, Maxie felt some of Sam's need. Even though she had her own laundry list of mistakes behind her, she had always known in her heart of hearts, that Mac was always there to catch her when she fell. "Look, I get it, about needing to find out who you are. I mean, I think I do. It's not something I've had to grow up with. But I have to tell you that Frisco Jones is no prize as a dad. If this is all true, and not just another mistaken case of misplaced DNA - then you're just another casualty of his selfishness. Just like me. He'd rather go off and save the world, rather than save his kids. So what do you want - a welcome to the lonely hearts club? Are you planning on sending him a postcard for Father's Day saying "surprise?" Assuming you could figure out where to send it."

Sam looked out the window, seeing something beyond the view. Maxie could see the memories shifting behind her gaze and knew she was elsewhere in her mind.

"He's in Casablanca..." Sam gazed past Maxie, her eyes taking on a thoughtful look. A smile of remembrance drifted across her face. Despite what Maxie had told her of Frisco Jones, and what her own knowledge had told her, the fact that she and the man who was her father had crossed the same paths on the other side of the world brought her some odd sense of union. Maybe that's who had given her her sense of wanderlust. Maybe he was the reason why she had never felt the need to settle down - until she had come to Port Charles, the same as him.... that thought lent her voice a kind of dreaminess.."...Morocco, in North Africa. I've been there, a couple of years ago. He just arrived a few days ago.... I wonder if the Blue Night bar is still there and if he ever went there. If you're looking for information - to buy or sell - that's the place to go."

Maxie felt Sam's emotions and inexplicably, she felt a hot flash of jealousy sear through her as she sensed Sam reaching for a connection with Frisco that she herself could never in a million years have. Her eyes narrowed in suspicion. "Wait a minute, how do you know he's there? My mother told me he was on his way to some assignment overseas, but she was waiting for confirmation of his arrival. He was supposed to try and call us when he got where he was going." Not that he had managed to find the time... she couldn't help but think bitterly. Duty , danger and excitement came first. And she came last - as always. "Have you talked to him?"

"No...no.. why would you think that?" Sam was puzzled.

"It doesn't matter." Maxie snapped. It was stupid and totally irrational of her to feel jealous just because Sam had been somewhere that Frisco - she refused to call him Dad - was. Somewhere far-off and exotic - somewhere that gave Sam a claim to her father that she, Maxie didn't have. "It's just like you to assume that my actions are all about you. This was all very nice, you sharing your feelings and all... but like I said before - I've got other things to do."

"Really... like what? Sam asked.

"I'm going to find my sister's murderer."


	7. Chapter 7

**CHAPTER SEVEN  
**

Downstairs, Alexis and Mac found themselves left in an uncomfortable silence. Their eyes followed Sam as she went upstairs, but all that followed was silence.

They waited, but when the silence continued, they both visibly relaxed. Alexis leaned against the nearest kitchen counter with a worried sigh while Mac sank down into a chair. He ran a hand over his face, closing his eyes for a moment.

His sigh unconsciously echoed hers. Mac felt Alexis' eyes on him. He opened his eyes to see him looking at him, not bothering to try and hide her concern.

"Are you all right?" she asked.

He shook his head. "I don't know."

Alexis didn't press the point. She could guess at how jumbled up his feelings must be right now. And as much as she loved words, she was all too aware of how inadequate anything she could think of to say would be in this moment. The best thing she could do was to just be there for him.

She moved, straightening the tray Maxie had slammed out of her hands and then fixed the both some coffee before bringing it all over and setting on the table. She could see that Mac was lost in his own thoughts, so Alexis quietly took a seat opposite him.

They sat in silence for a time, but Alexis was the first to break it.

"Mac?" Alexis ventured quietly. When he didn't answer her, she tried again, her voice still quiet, but a little more insistent. "Mac - here - take this."

When he still didn't react, so she reached across the table and took his hands, cupping them around the mug. Not knowing what else to do, Alexis kept her hands atop his, hoping that this simplest of human contact would break him free from his thoughts. Though he tried to hide it, she could see the pain in his eyes, even as they looked past her into a place she couldn't begin to imagine.

It was her touch on his that brought Mac back to the present. For a timeless moment, it had been the past and present churning themselves in his head. Hearing Sam's news had thrown what he had believed about the past and and what he'd thought was the present into a new set of turmoil, and the strength of his reaction stunned him. His insides churned almost to the point of making him ill.

Then there was the steadying touch of warm hands holding his and that brought Mac back to his senses. He blinked, and as his gaze refocused, he found himself facing Alexis' gaze.

After everything else that had happened tonight, he was more than a little confused and off-balanced to see the woman he'd only known up until now as a lawyer sitting across from him with such a concerned expression on her face. Her expression was soft - never a thought he'd thought he'd associate with Alexis Davis nee Cassadine. This was not the person he knew.

Then again, Mac had to realize that he didn't know Alexis outside of the office at all. This concern and caring was a side of her he'd never seen before.

His eyes dropped down to where their hands still rested together on the table.

Her eyes followed his. "Sorry," she said, and let them fall away.

She shouldn't have been apologizing to him, Mac realized. He caught himself staring at her hands. They were sensible hands. Strong, yet slender with a delicateness all their own.

"No - no." he said. Mac forced himself to resist the urge to take her hands the way she had taken his, to reassure her as he had tried to do with him. He marked his errant thoughts up to confusion. There was a lot of that going around tonight, he told himself. After all, this news had had to be just as much of an emotional bombshell for her as it had been for him. But, Mac decided, he wouldn't let his momentary weakness push him into such an impetuous act.

Instead Mac willed himself to push his pain down and closed his mind and feelings on it. "I'm the one who should be saying 'sorry.' I guessed I zoned out on you for a minute. "

Alexis shook her head - he shouldn't have to apologize - least of all to her. She was the one who had caused this bombshell to get dropped in his lap in the first place.  
"I think this was an allowable zoned out moment. I had mine - you just didn't see it." She tried for a smile, then leaned forward in her chair. "I'm sorry…no really, Max. You were already going through so much. Losing Georgie and trying to see Maxie through her own pain. And then Sam and I just walked in here tonight and blew what was left of your life apart.  
"I know I did this primarily for Sam. You have no idea how lost she is behind all her bravado. But I thought somehow that this might be a sort of blessing for Maxie too… not to try and take Georgie's place, of course - but for her to learn that she wasn't quite as alone that she thought she was before today."

Mac heard the sincerity in her voice; he was surprised to realize that her words touched him somehow. "I appreciate the sentiment, Alexis, I really do. And I do get the reasoning behind you and Samantha's choices." He sighed. "But Maxie - well, it might take awhile before she sees this in the same light."

Mentioning her name sent their gaze back up the stairs.

"Should we be glad that it's this quiet?" Alexis asked. "Could it be they're working things out?"

Knowing Maxie the way he did, Mac couldn't bring himself to share Alexis' optimism. In spite of everything, a wry smile came to his lips even as he shook his head. "Maxie has never been the 'working things out' type."

It was one of the things he had come to love about her; Maxie was like a force of nature - untamable and unstoppable in pursuit of what she wanted and what she believed in. Never mind the mostly disastrous results of her many misadventures, secretly, Mac had secretly admired that in her. He had never had that daring streak in her, and had sometimes wished that he had.

"Neither is my Samantha." Alexis said with a laugh. As the sound left her lips, she caught herself. Her laughter cut off abruptly. They were here precisely because she wasn't 'her' Samantha. Not anymore. "Oh, Mac, I'm sorry…" she started.

"Don't be." Mac caught the sudden sadness behind her eyes. It was a surprise of sorts to realize that they were suddenly and unexpectedly on common ground.  
"Samantha is still yours. Blood ties or not - she'll always be yours. Do you think that I could love either Maxie or...or Georgie any more than if they were my own flesh and blood?" His voice cracked a little as he said those last words.

Alexis had dropped her eyes after he apology, but hearing the gentleness in his voice brought her eyes back up to meet his. She saw the understanding in his eyes - and something of the memories that fueled it. She wanted to say thanks again, but the word seemed so inadequate in the moment so she chose to remain silent instead.

She didn't want to press and she didn't want to pry, but she knew what she had seen in Mac's eyes a moment before he'd shuttered his feelings away. There were memories behind his gaze and she could tell that they weren't all happy. Memories, no doubt, from long ago and she and Sam had dredged them up from wherever Mac had managed to bury them.

Alexis struggled within herself; a part of her wanted nothing more than to reach out to him, wanted to apologize to him for unearthing some unnamed pain, but she still couldn't seem to find the words. "I'm sorry," just wasn't enough. Alexis shut her eyes for a moment, her sorrow and guilt escaping her in a long sigh.

All of this was more than a little weird for Mac; sitting in his kitchen with a woman he'd never in his wildest imaginings thought to see here, sharing coffee and condolences with. He got the idea that Alexis had seen far more into him than what he was comfortable with and all of a sudden that didn't set too well with him.

Mac wasn't used to a woman's close care and concerns - let alone Alexis Davis of all people - and that made him shift uncomfortably in his seat.  
"Why don't we take all of this into the living room," he gestured to the tray of coffee. "Maybe the girls will surprise us and come downstairs and join us. "

The look on her face said she really didn't believe that any more than he did, but at this point, anything was worth a shot, wasn't it?

For an answer, both of their gazes went upstairs again.


End file.
